Furniture construction



Feb. 13, 1962 H. o. EADS ETAL FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Nov. 26,. 1958 .z fczro id 0.3azi5 J. WR0& z'san I'NVENTORQATTORNEYS.

Feb. 13, 1962 H. o. EADS ETAL FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Nov. 26, 1958 Ha r0 ZJ 0.30 is JWRafiison INVENTORS ATTORNEYS.

Feb. 13, 1962 H. o. EADS ETAL FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet 3Filed NOV. 26, 1958 [1 0 7'0 ZJQZ'QJS eff/[Ra Zrz'sonmvENToRs ATTORNEYSUnited States Patent 3,021,176 FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION Harold D. Eads,Vienna, W. Va., and James W. Robison,

Belpre, Ohio, assignors to 0. Ames Company, Parker'sburg, W. Va.

Filed Nov. 26, 1958, Ser. No. 776,500 2 Claims. (Cl. 297-452) Thisinvention relates to furniture construction, and more particularly tothe construction of the back and seat portions of metal framedfurniture. i

A primary object of the invention is to provide furniture for porch orpatio use, wherein the furniture is exposed to the elements. However, itis contemplated to so design the furniture that it will lend style toany decorating program.

Another object of the invention is to provide furniture wherein the backand seat portions thereof are constructed of a hollow plastic cord whichis capable of being stretched to one hundred and fifty percent of itsoriginal length and to recover ninety-five percent of the stretchedlength in approximately three seconds, the remaining five percent of thestretch being recovered within approximately one minute, therebyproviding a furniture seat or back rest which will readily conform tothe body of the person using the furniture without distorting the normalcontour of the seat or back rest of the furniture.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a plastic tube whichwill firmly grip the furniture frame about which the plastic tube iswrapped, thereby insuring against the plastic tubular wrapping becomingaccidently disconnected from the frame.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details ofconstruction and combinations of parts, hereinafter more fully describedand pointed out in the claims, it being understood that changes may bemade in the construction and arrangement of parts without departing fromthe spirit of the invention as claimed.

Referring to the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a chair equipped with a seat andback constructed in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view through the back of the chair taken on line3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a fragmental elevational view of a side rail of furniturewherein a plastic tube is wrapped over the side rail of furniture, theplastic tubular seat bottom being shown in section.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken on line 7-7 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken on line 8-8 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken on line 9-9 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken on line 10-10 of FIG. 3.

- FIG. 11 is an elevational view of the plastic tubular material formingthe seat or back rest.

Referring to the'drawings in detail, the reference characters 5 and 5'indicate the side rails of a chair seat, the chair being of metal tubingconstruction and includes a back rest 6 embodying substantially verticalside rails 7 and 7'.

The chair legs are indicated by the reference character 8 and areconnected with the seat and back in the usual manner, providing aconventional foldingchair.

As better shown by FIG. 2 of the drawings, the seat portion of the chaircomprises a length of plastic tubular material or cord 9 that has itsforward end positioned within the opening 10 formed in the forward endof a side rail 5 of the chair seat, from where the cord 9 is stretchedacross the front of the chair seat and passed through the opening 11 ofthe opposite side rail 5'. The cord 9 is now stretched consecutivelyfrom one side rail to the other, throughout the length of the seat, therear end of said plastic cord 9 being extended over the upper surface ofthe side rail 5 at the rear end of said side rail 5, where the extremityof the cord 9 is forced upwardly into the slot 12, formed in the lowersurface of the side rail 5 securely attaching the cord 9 to the siderails of the seat section of the chair by frictional contact.

Portions of the side rails 5 and 5' of the seat are countersunk as at 12adjacent to the walls of the opening 10 and slot 11, so that the plasticcord will flatten at the walls of said openings under pressure, as aresult of stretching the plastic cord during the wrapping of the plasticcord over the side rails of the seat, which wrapping stretches theplastic cord 9 approximately ten percent, providing a degree of tensionas a result of the plastic cord flattening at the point of contact withthe side rails 5 and 5', and at the same time cause the plastic cord tofirmly grip the side rails of the chair seat.

e side rail 7 of the back of the chair has an opening 17 which iscounter sunk and extends transversely therethrough, in which one end ofthe plastic tubular cord 18 is secured, the plastic cord 18 passingaround the side rail 7' and extending across the back of the chairframe, where it is extended through opening 11 of the opposite rail 7 ofthe chair frame, as shown by FIGURE 8 of the drawings. From here thecord is consecutively wrapped from one side rail to the other throughoutthe entire length of said cord. The free end of the cord 18 is nowwrapped around the side rail 7 at the base thereof and forced into theopening 19 formed in said rail 7, as shown by FIGURE 10 of the drawings,where it is securely held by frictional contact.

During the wrapping of the plastic cord over the steel tubing of thechair frame, the cord is heated to approximately ninety degrees, whichpermits the plastic cord to stretch, the shrinkage of the plastic cordas it cools, causing the cord to tightly grip the rails of the chairbottom and remain taut against loosening when exposed to heat from thesuns rays for long periods.

The force used in wrapping the plastic tubular cord also flattens theplastic tubular cord around the side rails of the bottom maintaining thewrappings in their proper positions against accidental disarrangement.

Elongated securing plates 21 are curved longitudinally and fitted overand secured to the lower surfaces of the strands or wrappings wherethestrands or wrappings contact with rails 5 and 5' of the seat frame bymeans of screws 22 threaded in openings formed in the side rails 5 and5' further securing the cord wrappings in their initial positions.

The plastic cord embodies polyvinyl chloride extruded into a hollow corddia.-.025" wall thickness). The durometc-r hardness of this cord being92. Plasticizers, and pigments used in compounding make the finishedcord extremely resistant to fading and when stretched to 150 percent ofits original length it will recover 95 percent in three seconds or less,and the remaining five percent of the length will recover inapproximately minute.

While I have shown and described the furniture as a chair structure, itis to be understood that the invention may be carried out in theconstruction of a chaise longue or other furniture.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. Furniture comprising a frame embodying a seat section and backsection comprised of tubular side rails having circular openingsextending transversely therethrough adjacent to the ends thereof,flexible plastic normally tubular continuous cords wrapped consecutivelyfrom one, side rail to the other of said seat section and said backsection, providing spaced tubular supporting strands temporarilycollapsible under pressure, said cords being wrapped under pressureflattening said normally tubular plastic cords at the points of contactwith said side rails adjacent to said openings, securing said cords, andthe ends of said plastic cords being wedged within said openingsrespectively, for expansible contact with the walls of said openings,securing the ends of said cords to said side rails against accidentaldisplacement.

2. Furniture comprising a frame embodying side rails having openingsextending transversely therethrouigh adjacent to the ends thereof, aplastic tubular cord collapsible under pressure, wrapped consecutivelyfrom one side rail to the other providing spaced supporting strands, thecord being wrapped under pressure flattening said plastic cord at thepoints of contact with said side rails, the ends of said plastic cordbeing wedged within said openings respectively, and transversely curvedretaining plates secured to the lower surface of said side rails,extending throughout substantially the entire lengths of said side railsin contact with said tubular cord, flattening and compressing saidtubular cord at the points of contact with said side rails, securingsaid plastic tubular cord to said side rails against accidental shiftinglongitudinally of said side rails of the frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D.181,870 Meneghelli Jan. 7, 1958 620,591 Jackson Mar. 7, 1899 760,552Norton May 24, 1904 1,507,188 Kane Sept. 2, 1929 2,612,656 Lyon Oct. 7,1952 2,622,663 Burd Dec. 23, 1952 2,731,076 Rowland Ian. 17, 19562,839,126 ONeill June 17, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS France July 8,

